


Small and Alone

by Waywocket



Series: The Adventures of Roomba and Friends. [2]
Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:34:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26211247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywocket/pseuds/Waywocket
Summary: Six wants to make a shrink ray. What can go wrong?
Series: The Adventures of Roomba and Friends. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903573
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	Small and Alone

It had been a long day of practice. There were new sets to work through and skits to learn. The Spine had gotten hit in the head three times with the wrench because their timing was off. He was sure there was a dent on the back of his head, but at least the hat covered it up.

After such a long day, he would have loved to relax and rest up. Instead? He was in the labs with Six, working on his latest invention. Or what was going to be at any rate.

Six had been working on a shrink ray for months now, and it was finally built. Now all the man had to do was test it.

Only they’d been trying for hours. The machine wouldn’t turn on. Six was running out of creative curse words.

“Frickin’, flippin’, shoot!” Yelled Peter when the machine whirred to life, only to die seconds later. “Why won’t you stay on?” He asked as he pulled off a panel to check the wires, again.

“Petes, it’s late. Why don’t you try again after some sleep?” Tried The Spine as the young man poked and prodded at his machine.

“It just needs some fine-tuning, Spineo! I think I’ve got it! Wasn’t getting enough juice!” Standing up straighter he tried again.

This time when it whirred on and chugged away, it stayed on. “Serendipity!” He explained and jumped into the air.

Spine wondered how he still had so much energy this time of night. When Six started to make adjustments, he made sure to stand clear of the machine. He didn’t need to be tiny.

On the other side of the room sat a perfectly round orange. Always trying to be one step ahead, at least ahead of himself, Peter wanted to start with something organic. Spine wasn’t sure what it mattered.

Behind the keyhole mask, he took careful aim. “Shrink ray test one in three, two, one.”

There was a loud buzzing noise that made Spine feel a bit dizzy before a streak of light shot from the machine and at the orange.

The fruit exploded and flung around the room.

Covering his face with a titanium and silicon hand, The Spine grumbled quietly when some pieces hit his suit. The juice would stain. 

Where the orange had been, there was a slight scorch mark. Needless to say; test one had failed. 

Six somehow managed to look heartbroken, even through his mask. His shoulders slumped, and his knees bent just so. All the excitement was gone. “Hmm, I guess changing the state of atoms is trickier than I thought.”

Which made Spine sigh and shake his head. For being more than old enough to be an adult and the face, mask? Of Walter Robotics, he sometimes reminded Spine of when he was much smaller.

“Come on, Petes. It’s late. Just get some rest, build your energy back up, and I’m sure it’ll be a snap.”

Suddenly, Six snapped his fingers and perked right up. “Right! Just like how the machine wasn’t getting enough juice! You’re a genius, Spine!” Praised Six while he walked to the door.

With a grin, Spine made to leave as well. It was good to see him take care of himself.

“I’ll just make some coffee and be right back! That should jog the ol’ noggin!” And with that, he was gone, leaving The Spine to stand by the door in mute shock.

So much for getting him to rest, and letting Spine rest for that matter.

Shoulders slumping, The Spine got comfortable while he waited for Six to come back down, likely too wired to sleep for a week. He looked around the room at the mess the orange had made. The machine was a bit terrifying, he thought, stepping to where the orange had been. Now there was nothing but a scorch mark.

While he looked the spot over a piece of the fruit fell from the ceiling, and hit the machine just so. It whirred back to life of its own accord, giving Spine only enough time to turn around.

Yelling, Spine tried to move out of the way before the shrink ray fired. There wasn’t enough time. The shot rang out and struck him squarely in the core. There was a sharp pain, and then blackness.

It wasn’t long after that Spine woke up. It took some time for his memory to boot up enough to remember what happened.

When it hit him, he gasped and quickly sat up. Hands on his chest, he checked himself over. Patting at his plating, he made sure all of him was still attached, triple checking his core was in one piece. He flopped back onto the ground when he realized he was alright. “Oh man, that was scary. I thought I was done for!” He laughed before finally pulling himself to his feet.

The first thing he noticed was his fedora, and how it was nearly as tall as him. “Wha?” Looking around the room, he got a sinking feeling in his boiler. This wasn’t right.

Looking around him, he saw how much bigger it was now. No, that wasn’t right. How much smaller he was now.

“Looks like his machine worked after all,” he sighed, trying not to panic. He was small, oh so very small now. But it was alright. Petes would be back any moment and he could figure out how to reverse this. He hoped.

Six was taking a while to get coffee. Spine paced around his fedora, trying to think of anything, but what was happening right now. He was absolutely going to be fine. Peter could fix this, he was smart, and it was his machine after all. He just had to wait for Peter.

“For Pete’s sake, Peter! Where are you?” He yelled, his voice not even carrying to the open door.

Upstairs, in the kitchen, Peter Walter VI was leaning against the counter next to the coffee machine. His arms were folded neatly across his chest and his chin resting above them. Quietly, he snored.

The Spine needed help, plain and simple. He couldn’t reverse this on his own. He couldn’t even reach the machine to try. It was late, but he would have to find someone upstairs to wake up.

Just getting out of the labs was a chore. The hall felt like it went on forever. He struggled to walk slow enough for the shorter members of Walter robotics to keep up before. Oh, how he missed being tall!

Finally, making it to the stairs, he wanted to give up. They were as tall as him, and he was deep below ground. The world felt very unfair. It was almost enough to make him weep.

He groaned and puffed out a long sigh of steam. There was no point in waiting around. The closer he was, the sooner someone would find him. Spine needed to give himself a fighting chance. Grabbing the first stair, he pulled himself up.

Climbing the steep stairs, he grumbled the whole way. This was the last time he would work late with Six. No more late nights where no one else was around. No more staying up and running his boiler dry while Petes rambled on about all manors of ideas! 

He swore them all off while he climbed. No more putting himself at risk like he had, he thought. Those feelings were fleeting as he thought about Peter staying up all night on his own. He saw what happened to the fruit. Better him than Peter, he decided.

At the top of the stairs, he rolled onto his back and puffed a cloud of steam. He was running low on water. He needed to top up soon.

That was going to be a problem. Even if The Spine made it to the kitchen, how was he supposed to get water? 

Standing up again, Spine straightened his suit. “Well! No point just standing here! Better to at least try and find someone.”

He didn’t make it far before he started to slow down even more. Things weren’t looking promising for the silver robot. He would have to hope someone would find him after he powered down. Not something he found particularly favourable. What if Rabbit found him first!?

When he was giving up hope that he'd make it in time, he heard a familiar whir of a tiny motor. Around the corner came Roomba. He quietly cheered when he saw them.

“Hey, Cowboy!” He called and tried to wave it down. Luckily, for him, Roomba was coming his way. “I’m happy to see you, buckaroo. Mind giving me a lift?”

The little machine kept coming until it gently bumped into him with a soft beep. Well, as gently as it could with his size, he did fall over.

Laughing, Spine stumbled and managed to get back onto his feet. “You’re a real lifesaver, you know that?” Climbing up on them, he gave Roomba a fond pat. 

They bumped into a few walls, but eventually, Spine got them turned the right way to the kitchen. They’d find Six and get him to fix this. He had to be able to, right?


End file.
